The impact of the soil additives application on the rainwater surface runoff

Abstract

The main aim of this work was the application of the soil additives into soil and the study of their impact on the amount of surface runoff originating from rainwater. Execution of research was carried out on the modified portion of the land at Department of Biometeorology and Hydrology, SUA Slovakia. Land was divided into four experimental plots. Individual treatments consisted of application of perlite, charcoal and water glass into the top layer of the experimental plots. The fourth experimental field was kept as a black fallow (control). To perform the measurements, rainfall simulator was used in six measurement series. We can conclude that the application of perlite is not an adequate treatment for erosion control practices, since its application increased the surface runoff. Increased application dose of additives resulted in the positive effects of the water glass application. Surface runoff for this treatment decreased in average by about 41% in comparison to control. This positive effect was observed only after the second application of the soil additives.